Bob Kelleher on Health Care

Republican challenger

Single-payer, government-funded health system

Kelleher said Baucus is too beholden to health insurance companies--and the money they donate to political campaigns--to oversee any meaningful change to America's broken health care system.

"Private insurance companies have been, are and will be under the Baucus plan soaking up 25 percent of the public's money," he said. "Only 75 percent of each insurance dollar goes to a doctor or a hospital."

Kelleher, who supports a single-payer, government-funded health system as in Canada, also faulted Baucus for not having a more detailed plan to fix health care. "If he hasn't figured it out in 30 years, what
Baucus is saying is that there will be no health program as long as I'm chair of the Senate Finance Committee," Kelleher said. "Unless it's controlled by private insurance companies."

Source: By Jennifer McKee, The Missoulian
Jul 3, 2008

Health care for everyone is a Christian ideal

Bob spent 9 years in a monastery studying to become a Carmelite Priest before earning his law degree. Today, he believes that
Health Care, including reasonably priced prescriptions should be available to everyone. Bob considers this to be a Christian ideal.

Supports socialized medicine with decisions made by doctors

Kelleher openly calls for socialized medicine. As it stands, he said, insurance companies take 25% of every health care dollar Americans spend. "That's money that should be used for health care," he said.

Kelleher also said doctors--not lawyers or insurance adjusters--should be the ones deciding what kind of care is "medically necessary." Socialized medicine, Kelleher said, can be achieved only in a parliament, where lobbyists have less sway.`